Lower Elwha Clallam County, Washington


Mapped Location

Lower Elwha: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Lower Elwha

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Lower Elwha

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Lower Elwha Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Lower Elwha

References to Lower Elwha that document the origin of its place name

Title Cover Image: Origin of Washington geographic names

ELWHA RIVER, rising in the Olympic Mountains, it flows into the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Port Angeles, in the northern part of Clallam County. The name first appears on the British Admiralty Chart 1911, Kellett, 1847, and on all subsequent maps, though the spelling has not always been the same. Rev. Myron Eells says the Indian word means "Elk." (American Anthropolgist, January, 1892.) On the bank of the river, seven miles west of Port Angeles, there is a town formerly known as "McDonald," but now called Elwha. (H. B. Herrick, in Names MSS., Letter 267.)

Edmond S. Meany in Origin of Washington Geographic Names

 

Last updated: 2024-06-04